Maj. Gen Vallely: Saddam's Right-Hand Man Is ISIS Ringleader

A ruthless ally of Saddam Hussein is one of the top ringleaders involved in the violent overtaking of key cities in Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely has revealed.

"In the past 24 hours, the attacks coming out of eastern Syria and down toward Baghdad have all been conducted by Gen. Ibrahim al-Douri,'' Vallely told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"He was the right hand man of Saddam Hussein. If you remember the conference tables in Saddam's offices, al-Douri was the guy with the beret and the mustache and the red hair.''

In the past several weeks, ISIS — a splinter group of al-Qaeda — has captured key cities throughout Iraq and mercilessly executed countless civilians as it attempts to turn Iraq and Syria into a new Muslim caliphate.

Lisa Ruth, an analyst for the global forecasting and intelligence website LIGNET, said Iraq has quickly become "a much more federated system'' of three ethnic components.

"The Kurds have pretty much secured their area … the Sunnis are carving out their position and then you've got the Shiites backed by Iran obviously,'' she said.

"I don’t see this coming together as a single country again at least not for a very long time certainly not on its own. There is no organic movement to join together, it's just not there.''